At the center of every people is something that is, for them, innately funky.

And when they fail to hold on to that something, then they fail to protect their Soul.

America is such a careless and cold marketplace that it is easy for anyone to lose their Soul. Regardless of the effect on the people, anyone's Soul can be sold on the open market.

Even white people have souled their Soul.

For example, Emimen could have been funky in a Black environment as a white boy, instead of coming off as a white boy trying to dominate a Black art form by trying to come off as nearly Black.

He should have paid attention to those before him. Beastie Boys were crazy in a very white boy way. They were true to their whiteness in a Black environment and it was funky. No one could have done that except some berserk white boys. Anyone Black with that style would have sounded goofy and would have been corny and wack, but they were funky and loved in a way Eminem can never get by being Rap music's Elvis Presley.

Another example can be found in 1970s R&B music. Quick-did you really know Teena Marie was white in the early days of her career? Did you care that Micheal McDonald (Doobie Brothers) or Bobby Caldwell was? No. We loved them and never cared that they were white even when we found out.

But, many of us care that Justin Timberlake is white and could care less for his disingenuous attempts to be "Blacker than thou," even going so far as to dis Prince, of all people, in order to earn some sort of 'hood rep.

Stupid ass Justin souled out.

It's easy to do in America, where we can see the Soul-selling in every nook and cranny of the nation.

And at the bottom of it all are the most abused, historically disenfranchised group of citizens-African Americans, pretending to be something that they no longer even discuss-relevant, empowered and enfranchised.

Sad and simple-minded African Americans believe that the presence of a few corporate leaders in Blackface will somehow affect the rest of us, and so we cheer for the heads of commerce, even as most of us languish at middle class and below.

These sad Black people even believed that the election of a Black president would instantly make good the nation's bad promissory note written against an account with the funds ready to be disbursed on demand.

Certainly, Barack Obama's presidency brings many good things, but it will take more than the election of one Black man to stem the tide of bloodletting that has been flowing freely for centuries.

Yet, many deluded Blacks in America believe that there is no more bloodshed and that the nation is now fair, beautiful and loving.

But why wouldn't African Americans believe in truth, justice and the American way?

Our people are being assimilated into a soul-less society and we are becoming more and more soul-less with it.

It's an evolution and a destruction of a people at the same time. At the end of the day, it's like the Matrix, where the goal is to have everyone look like Agent Smith.

The Soul is being sucked out of our people. That is the ultimate goal of this system-to create mindless, shapeless consumers.

It will get to the point where whites will tell Blacks what being a Nigger is and claim to be more Nigger-like than them.

Oh snap! Wait-we're already there.

Blackness has very little meaning and substance to most of us. Talk to a few people across a wide age range and you will find that there is little sense of community. This is one of the prime reasons why previously demeaning behavior and activities are now celebrated, particularly if the person facilitating the demeaning of our image is in blackface and getting paid.

Tyler Perry should be chastised by all for cooning on the silver screen, but instead many Blacks defend him, touting empty "reasons" such as "he's making money."

Dead-brained knee-grows talk about Perry opening doors for others, but those doors are dubious and the people entering are not all that cool.

For example, where whites once thought twice about donning blackface and demeaning Black people, now jackasses like Chuck Knepp and his "Shirley Q. Liquor" character are defended, even by some dead-brained Negroes.

Few talk about how Black comedians, rappers and comedic actors are selling us out and crapping on our image on the world stage.

But let any of our great minds talk about the real problems, which are pursued mostly by the so-called haves against the have-nots, and the critical thinkers will be attacked.

It's almost as if Black people would rather devolve at worst, or at best, stagnate, before doing the heavy lifting of thinking outside of the box and taking according action.

It's hard work to protect the collective Soul, but as we see from the reputation and standing of the Jews, the effort is well worth it.

In order to protect and preserve our Soul, we would have to take a cold hard look at who we are and what we are doing to each other.

It's gonna take a lot of heart and Soul to do that.

Next Week: "Divided Soul."

Darryl James is an award-winning author of the powerful new anthology "Notes From The Edge." James' stage play, "Love In A Day," opened in Los Angeles this Spring and will be running all Summer. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.